1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to assemblies of optical components and is directed more particularly to a plurality of optical components selected from an inventory of optical components and positioned on a platform which receives the components and retains the components in alignment with each other to perform a desired operation on a light beam from an optical source disposed in one of the components.
The invention further relates to a method for assembling optical components.
2. Description of Prior Art
The basic nature of light, especially in the context of freespace-interconnect optical systems, requires that light generating, transmitting and modifying elements be positioned accurately relative to each other in order that an optical system made of such elements functions properly and efficiently. This is of prime importance in electro-optical, all optical, and micro-optical electromechanical systems. For example, an opto-electronic assembly may require combining of light from multiple semiconductor lasers or light emitting diodes (LED's), using lenses, beam splitters, polarizing and birefringence elements into and out of one or multiple semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) or power optical amplifiers (POA), and then coupling the light into one or multiple single mode fibers. Successful implementation of such a system requires micrometer to sub-micrometer alignment and attachment accuracy of the optical components.
A common practice for aligning and fixing optical components in an optical system similar to the one described immediately above is to attach some of the components, such as lasers or LED's, on a platform with reasonable accuracy and then actively align those components, by monitoring some error signal, and attach other elements, such as lenses or fibers, one after another relative to the light source, onto the platform by some means. If, during the attachment process, the relative position of each component is deviated from its optimal point, then it is necessary to go back and perform additional active alignment and correction. This technique requires that the combination of the initial alignment step and subsequent correction steps, after component attachment, guarantees micrometer to sub-micrometer positioning accuracy. This process is normally very tedious and time-consuming and is a major bottleneck in optoelectronic packaging technology. Another drawback of this technique is its incompatibility with an assembly-line-like manufacturing process, either with manual or automated equipment.